Transcript

00:00:02

>> Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees can no longer be fired over their sexual orientation. That's the ruling Tuesday by a federal appeals court in Chicago. The decision by the Seventh US Circuit Court of Appeals, extending the 1964 Civil Rights Act to protect LGBT employees. Judges saying discrimination based on sexual orientation is a form of sex discrimination.

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In a major victory for LGBT rights, the judgement overturns decades of court decisions, that said gay rights were not explicitly mentioned in the act, and therefore were not protected. The case stemming from a 2014 lawsuit, by a college professor at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana, who claims she was fired for being a lesbian.

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With this Federal ruling, that suit can proceed. The school denies the claim, but will not seek a review of the case by the US Supreme Court. The High Court Justices have yet to rule on LGBT protections in relation to the Civil Rights Act.